Courage to Care is a practical book that is a joy to read. It provides a spiritual framework for practices and attitudes that empower ordinary people to be courageous and effective caregivers. The book is immensely practical and aimed at both clergy and lay persons. The author opens your eyes with:
• Tools to cultivate your effectiveness and confidence, • True stories that will move you, instruct you, and encourage you, • Illustrations to help you understand a suffering person’s point of view, • Practical guidance for becoming Jesus’s hands, feet, and heart to someone who needs what you are uniquely gifted to give, • A vision of the joy and rewards of coming alongside someone in trouble.
Stan Hagemeyer uses biblical models and contemporary stories to present the concepts in a form accessible for both clergy and lay persons. The reader will be equipped to go alongside suffering people in a ministry reframed within Jesus’ model. Both lay people and professional clergy reading this book will gain confidence in working effectively to help people with physical suffering, broken relationships, or other forms of trouble. This is a practical guide for anyone who wants to learn how to care for people who are suffering. The appendices provide specific training exercises and strategies that can be used by individuals or within a training course for caregivers.
It takes courage to care. The risks are real, as are your limitations. But never let that keep you from walking in the footsteps of Jesus and discovering the costs, the priceless impact, and the unexpected, deep joys of caregiving. Courage to Care shows you the way.
Table of Contents – Chapters: 1. Appreciating Suffering , 2. Crossing into Alien Territory, 3. Simple Gifts Make the Difference, 4. The Blessings Go Both Ways, 5. Shared Suffering and Intimate Bonds, 6. Discovering Jesus’s Presence, 7. What Happens to Faith under Pressure, 8. My Personal Journey toward Wholeness, Epilogue: The Conclusion God Is Making.
Appendices- Resources (training exercises): A. Listening and Attending Skills, B. Practicing Mutual Giving and Receiving, C. Healthy Boundaries and Personal Coaching, D. Nurturing the Caregiver, Acknowledgments, Notes.
Stan Hagemeyer was born and raised on a small farm in Minnesota. Most recently he has been writing short stories, one of which, "Eye Witness" appears in Making Waves 2024. He is also writing an historical fiction account of his grandparents' first fifty years of marriage as settlers farming in Minnesota 1900-1950. Educated at Hope College and Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI, he also studied in Kolkata (Calcutta) India for two years following seminary. Stan says those two years living on a minimalist grant have inevitably helped shape his global perspective. He served churches in the Reformed Church in America for a few years, and was the founding director of Good News Community in Grand Rapids MI, which primarily served singles and divorced individuals. Around that time he completed his Doctor of Ministry degree at Western Theological Seminary. Stan then pastored Saranac Community Church, in Saranac, Michigan for over a decade and was also interim professor of pastoral care at Western Theological Seminary for a year. In the following years he says he has been blessed by getting acquainted with a variety of Christian communities while serving as interim pastor for nine different churches in three denominations in Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Nebraska. In recent years he has also become an active member in the Ludington Writers club. Together with his wife, Mary Ann, he lives on a small lake in upper Michigan, off the beaten path. They have four married children with twelve grandchildren. Stan enjoys the outdoors through XC skiing, a walk in the woods, fishing and photography. He can be reached at stanh79@gmail.com.
